(CHEHALIS, WA) -- Lewis County PUD reports they have
recently received reports from customers who say they have received
calls from the utility’s Morton office where a male voice tells them
that that their power will be shut off in two hours unless they make a
payment over the phone. They say that a utility worker is on the way to
shut them off unless the payment is made. Lewis County PUD officials
says these are fraudulent calls not coming from the utility and if you
receive such a call you should just hang up. PUD says you can always
verify the status of your account by calling them directly at
360-748-9261.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

(PORTLAND, OR) -- Northwest biologists are closely
monitoring chum salmon this winter as they record what might be the largest run
of Columbia River chum in 13 years. The 2015 run could be as high as 20,000,
making it the largest since 2002.

The annual run of Columbia River chum salmon historically
numbered more than 1 million. However, habitat loss and other factors caused
their numbers to plummet during the last century to a low of just a few
thousand per year. The federal government listed Columbia River chum as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1999.

Called “dog” salmon because of their canine-like teeth, chum
are the last salmon of the year to return to the Columbia to spawn, and their
young are the first to leave for the ocean in the spring. Chum salmon generally
spawn in the lower part of the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam, preferring
tributaries where warm ground water pushes up through spawning gravel. The warm
water quickly incubates their eggs.

The Bonneville Power Administration has funded two hatchery
programs and construction of new spawning habitat for chum in several areas of
the lower Columbia River. In 2011, BPA increased the capacity of two chum
salmon spawning channels located on tributaries just below Bonneville Dam.

BPA, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other
federal partners, manages river flows from Bonneville Dam to keep chum salmon
redds (or nests of eggs) under water during critical times of the year. The
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is also building a new spawning
channel for chum salmon on the Lewis River. It should be completed by summer
2016.

About Me

Joel Myer works at an electrical utility in Washington State.
Prior to his current employment, he worked for nine years at the City of Shelton as Special Projects Coordinator.
In 1992, Joel served a three-month term as an appointed Mason County Commissioner. As far as it is known, he still holds the record for the shortest term for a county commissioner in Washington State.
From 1991 through 1992 Joel worked with Washington State University Cooperative Extension, where he conducted an extensive study of the special forest products industry and its economic value to the Pacific Northwest.
From 1980 to 1991 he was News Director at KMAS Radio in Shelton.
Joel is a 1991 graduate of the Evergreen State College, where his focus of study was economics.
Joel Myer is one of the 2018 award winners, Foundation for Water & Energy Education Haiku Contest.
He has been teaching himself to play the ukulele (with limited success) since 2003.